In a sense, Catherine Rivera Barber began her Abbey journey long before she set foot on campus… because even before she’d ever heard of the Abbey, Catherine was learning what it meant to be a servant leader, a call that would find its catalyst years later in her formation as an MBA student at Belmont Abbey College.
The youngest of three, Catherine was born in New York but raised in North Carolina, where her parents moved the family while she was still very young. Both of her parents had come to New York from different parts of Latin America early in life, and having experienced the suffering and insecurity of a lack of parental influence themselves, they’d determined to raise their own children in loving security no matter the cost. Concerned with the condition of schools and neighborhoods in New York, then, Catherine’s father accepted a job in North Carolina and moved the family there. Soon after settling, however, he lost his job.
In the challenges and uncertainties that followed, Catherine grew up watching her parents continually give of themselves to nurture and support their children. And through this time of hardship and sacrifice, she saw them rediscover their faith.
As her mother began bringing the family to church each Sunday, Catherine became aware of another dimension of her parents’ love and care. Ever since, whenever she or one of her siblings struggle, they find steadfast support in their mother’s prayer, her affirming words, and scriptural encouragement. Her favorite Bible verse, Philippians 4:13, has even become a pillar of Catherine’s own spiritual life: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
So, years later, having graduated high school, earned two associate’s degrees, married, and had her first child, the Catherine who joined her husband on a whim in the Registrar’s Office of Belmont Abbey College was someone who brought with her the foundations of an education in true leadership – a foundation from which she could recognize what Belmont Abbey had to offer to her own vocational journey.
In two short years, Catherine had had her second child and completed her bachelor’s as a Business Management student in the Abbey’s Adult Degree Program, graduating in 2015. Completing her degree while shouldering the responsibilities of a young wife and mother – and increasingly mindful of all that she wanted to give and to teach her own children – Catherine was deeply grateful for the unwavering encouragement and the “life-changing” formation she received from her professors. “The adult degree program helped me and my husband balance the needs of work, school, and life,” she remembers, and at graduation they “walked the stage together.” So when Catherine discovered that Belmont Abbey now offered graduate degrees, she eagerly considered what an Abbey MBA could mean for her personal and professional growth.
Catherine was well aware that the businesswoman she hoped to become would stand as a contradiction to many popular conceptions of the industry, conceptions not without their basis in experience. While determined to apply herself, embrace challenges, and excel, she wanted these efforts to build something more meaningful – and more flourishing – than the culture of burnout and personal aggrandizement that loses the root of human good within the rush for success. Catherine considered her family and her vocation in all its complexity. She thought of her parents and of the kind of mother and woman she wanted to be. And she hoped that returning to the Abbey would not only equip her with the knowledge and resources she needed for professional success but also challenge and form her to exercise her capacity for true leadership, stewardship, and meaningful community.
The program did not disappoint. Having completed the one-year MBA in 2024, Catherine reflects that her Belmont Abbey studies cultivated “a holistic approach toward corporate leadership,” not only addressing the critical “ins and outs of business management” but also emphasizing the importance of true, servant leadership and cultivating the qualities that embrace its full and essential meaning, so richly infused with the Benedictine hallmarks.
Catherine completed her MBA while working full-time and continuing to embrace marriage and motherhood. Between the flexibility of online classes and the support of responsive, expert instructors, she found the Abbey’s MBA an ideal fit, in practice as well as formative vision.
“I had a fantastic experience with the faculty of Belmont Abbey College. They were always so encouraging and highly knowledgeable. Every course brought its challenges, which tested your understanding and made you dig a little deeper into every aspect of teaching. After every difficult assignment, I had an ‘AHA’ moment of reflection.” Building expertise in business communication, in data visualization, and in the technologies, theories, and culture that govern their effective practice, Catherine found in each class a new invitation to develop her skills and understanding in service to her calling as an ethical leader.
“Belmont Abbey’s MBA program was influential from the first semester,” Catherine said. Throughout her studies, but especially in her course on Christian Ethics and Effective Leadership for the Common Good, Catherine found new insights on her journey and its relation to different views of leadership, different Benedictine values, and the varied emphases of different cultures and communities. The need to understand, to listen with humility, and to make oneself present to others – uniting self-awareness and empathy with the capacity to recognize others’ strengths and weaknesses – all of this shed new light on Catherine’s deep desire to lead and to influence others for the good. “It gave me the confidence to speak to what I want out of my career,” she noted: not only the skills and knowledge but also the impact and the joy of meaningful community. “It (also) gave me… the ability to highlight my achievements,” she added, “At the start of the program, I was promoted to an Assistant Vice President position within one of the largest financial institutions in the US.”
Even during times of stress, when Catherine struggled to balance the demands of full-time graduate study with her family and career responsibilities, she drew strength from the faith her parents continued to inspire. At one point early in the spring semester, Catherine got sick and fell behind in her Corporate Governance for Law course. Uncertain whether she could recover her footing, she felt herself beginning to flounder. But when Dr. Ann Marie Hayes, who habitually sent Bible verses to the class as centering reminders, reached out with the familiar Philippians 4:13, Catherine heard her mother’s voice in her head and knew, truly, that she could do all things through Christ. “The power of prayer is very real,” Catherine maintains, as is the recognition of caring and inspired leadership. Men and women like her parents and her Abbey professors, who embrace servant leadership in the daily exercise of their vocations, have a profound and lasting impact in others’ lives. Catherine excelled in Dr. Hayes’ course and completed the Abbey’s MBA program in the joyful confidence that her own leadership journey would have the power to inspire and develop others, in turn, by the grace of God.
Today, as Assistant Vice President of the Charlotte Market in Global Financial Crimes – Special Investigations, Catherine has established a “mentorship opportunity within the company,” challenging herself to explore risk management and efficient data handling. She has now passed her CAMS (Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist) certification as well. With each new opportunity for growth, expertise, and credentials, Catherine recognizes a renewed call to apply her gifts, capacities, and knowledge in authentic servant leadership.
Belmont Abbey’s MBA “made me a better leader,” Catherine asserts. “Understanding the fundamentals of leadership with an enhanced ethical approach made me confident in why servant-style leadership benefits the greater good and how Benedictine values reiterate the importance of emotional intelligence. It made me realize how effective leadership is a two-way street built on communication and trust.”
Since graduation, Catherine has found her peers and supervisors placing more faith in her, more trust. She welcomes the networking opportunities and the challenge in complex cases, seeing in each new encounter the chance to have an impact. “Everything in my life ties together,” she says, and as it does, she recognizes the increasing desire to draw closer to God and to continue her spiritual journey. “Strong leaders are rooted in faith,” she states, bringing forth from this Benedictine stability the capacity to “wholeheartedly help others.” Now, looking to the future and eager to show her daughter and her sons that they, too, can do and be, she is “excited for the new journey.”
